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Wednesday, August 02, 2017

Bio: Laura V. Hilton is an
award-winning, sought-after author with almost twenty Amish, contemporary, and
historical romances. When she’s not writing, she reviews books for her blogs,
and writes devotionals for blog posts for Seriously Write and Putting on the
New.

Laura and her pastor-husband have
five children and a hyper dog named Skye. They currently live in Arkansas. One son is in
the U.S. Coast Guard. She is a pastor’s wife and homeschools her two youngest
children.

When she’s not writing, Laura enjoys
reading, and visiting lighthouses and waterfalls. Her favorite season is
winter, her favorite holiday is Christmas.

Welcome back, Laura. Tell us about your
salvation experience.

I was a child, eight years old.We were sitting in church,
and it was communion Sunday. Back then, the scripture the pastor used had a
real long word in it that start with a D…ation and I leaned over to Mom and
asked her, “What does d…ation mean?” She explained it, and I didn’t participate
in communion that Sunday. Instead, after the service I went forward and had a
talk with the pastor and my mom in a small room up front, and I accepted Jesus
as my savior.

You’re planning a
writing retreat where you can only have four other authors. Who would they be
and why?

We’re assuming that those I ask would attend, right? I’d
probably need a list of forty to find those four. I’d invite Susan May Warren,
Irene Hannon, Lynette Eason, and Denise Hunter. And I’d choose them because
they write characters that jump off the page and become real, and I try to
emulate their style so mine do, too.

Do you have a
speaking ministry? If so, tell us about that.

No, I don’t. My publicist would probably like it if I did,
but right now I’m not secure enough to talk about anything without hemming and
hawing and a lot of ums and and-uhs.

Maybe you will soon. What
is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you and how did you handle
it?

Ha. Well, I’m not sure it’s printable. Let’s just say I was
thirteen, I was at school and I had an unexpected visit from a woman’s monthly
visitor. One of my first. And of course, I had nothing. So I went to the
nurse’s station where she sat me in a bathroom, washed all my clothes and
loaned me supplies. Best part … I got out of biology class.

People are always
telling me that they’d like to write a book someday. I’m sure they do to you,
too.

What would you tell someone who came up to you and said
that? I’d ask them what they’d write about. And then I’d encourage them to
write it.

Tell us about the
featured book.

Second Chance Brides is a collection of nine historical romance
novellas written by nine different authors and my story is called Married
by Mistake. I was very honored to be included in this collection, and
with such talented historical authors! This is my debut historical, and I had a
lot of fun writing it.

Please give us the
first page of the book.

A kiss.

The sea spray touched Bessie O’Hara’s face as gently as she
imagined he—whoever he might be—would some day brush his lips across her
cheeks.

She couldn’t wait.

If only she could skip all the tiresome courtship rituals
like monotonous parlor visits and chaperoned strolls. She’d also eliminate the
formal calling cards and fluttering fans society demanded and go straight to
the happily-ever-after.

It wasn’t that easy. She glanced at her two cousins,
giggling behind their fans, as they stepped off the ferry onto the dock leading
to the island. They looked toward some gentlemen who’d come to meet the boat.
Judging by their clothing, they were there for the summer season as well. They
certainly weren’t employees hired to drive the buggies and wagons.

Bessie smoothed her hand over her dress. Splotches of water
dampened the material under her touch. With a sigh, she looked around for her
family’s carriage. Papa had wired ahead and told the driver when to meet the ferry.
She didn’t see the carriage, but a large crowd blocked her view.

I want to know what
happens next. How can readers find you on the Internet?

Readers, leave
a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these
instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least
the state or territory or country if outside North America.
(Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the
number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of
eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any
pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on
this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You
will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Google+, Feedblitz,
Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave
your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:

So nice to finally put a 'face' to who we've been reading through the years! Loved your bio & story! Beautiful book covers, by the way. Thanks for the give away; would love to win this! Congratulations to whoever does!

The Barbour collections are always good reads as well as being attractive books - nice covers and page stock. I have read one of Laura's Amish novels, and I notice in the collection some other familiar writers but a couple of whom are new to me. Thanks from TX.